does faith make you a better person?

[assoutE12]

No. And based on the damage that Religion has done to the world I would say it makes you a much worse person by association.

[nando]

if going to church makes you a christian, does standing in a garage make you a car?

[shiboujin]

god is like santa, if you believe he will give you coal if you aren't good, you'll be good. Why do I need hell looming over my head to be good?

Atheists can be moral. Moral doesn't necessarily follow religion.

I'm personally agnostic/confused. But I hate ppl that think that you are evil if you don't believe in god.

[s0urce]

Religion is for people that can't think for themselves. You can only make yourself a better person.

[ben312]

After the past year, and what has happened in it I made the personal choice to become "athesistic." I do like some of the ideas some religions have, but I just don't see a "god" out there.

Today I was talking to my ex and I was talking about how I do not believe in a god. She made a big huff about how if I would stop blaming god for all my problems that I would be a happier, and better person. I tried to explain that I did not believe in a god so there isn't much of a way I could blame him for anything, much less my issues. I tried telling her she was being ignorant, and that she should listen to what I have to say before making judgment. She comes back at me about how I told her to lean on god when her friend died. Well even at that point, over a year ago, I had been having issues with my faith. She says that when things starting going south for me I blamed god. I told her she was right, because at the time I did blame god, but after alot of thinking I made the choice to give up my faith in a god. I also told her that everyone blames god for something at one point. I also made a big deal about faiths like buddhism don't believe in a strict god. We got into a pretty big fight when she got pissy and said jesus, i replied with "he isn't real." And long story short she thinks becasue I at one time had issues with god, then gave up faith that I will never be "truely happy." Fact is that I had my issues then made the choice to give up faith, not based only on my hardship but just looking at life in general. Its not as if I got nothing but pain from god and thus gave him up, its more of a personal choice based upon my life, and what I see in the world. I am not some emo kid, I am a happy enough person IMO, I just don't think that there is a god there.

I know a few people who are the jesus kids, my ex not being one of them by a long shot. For the most part the people who run around thanking jesus for everything kinda creep me out. They always seem to have a smile on their face and no matter what happens they seem cheery. To me this is just not human, it is human to feel sad, hurt, angry, and everything else. But everyone who talks to me about jesus or faith in general seems to be one of these people, I know that not everyone who believes in christ is like this, but most of the people my age around here who are into god seem to be this way. Most everyone around here has a faith of some kind or another, but the only ones who seem to show it are these "jesus freaks." I don't see how they are happier then me, in fact I think if the only emotion someone shows is happiness then they are a little crazy. I mean as a human there are times when everyone should be happy, sad, or angry.

So my question is, do you guys think that believing in a god makes you a better person? I'm not looking for someone to try to show me the light or anything. I'm also not looking for those of you who believe in god to make a big fuss. I just want to know if you guys think that the simple believe in a god makes someone a "happier" person.

Personal I will say no one this topic. I know plently of people who have a strong faith in god, and who I would say I am far happier then.

[/rant]